Ice box for fish and other sea foods



Apr. 10, 1923.

Filed Aug. 14, 2 sheet-sheet 1 lNVE/VTU/P L M BOW LL75 Apr. 10, 1923.

2 sheets-Shea Filed Aug. 14, 1922 INVE/VTDR L.M. BDWLL/S ATTYS.

Patented Apr. 10,

LAUREN M. nownus, 011' SAN LUIS oBIsro, camronnin-f ion Box iron FISH AND OTHER sue scone.

i'hpplica tion filed August 14, 1922.

To all whom it may concern a I Be it known that I, LAUREN MJBowLUs, a citizen f the United States, residing at San Luis Obispo, in the county of San Luis Obispo and State of California, have in- 3 an ice box of the character 30 are SO disturbing the ice or.

- normally upper brought to uppermost ments in ice boxes vented new and useful Improvements in :Ice Box for Fish and Other Sea Foods, of which the following is a specificatiou' The present invention relates to improveand has particular reference to ice boxes which are especially adapted for containing and preservingin a fresh state, fishand other sea foods.

An object of the invention is to provide described by the use of which fish and other seafood may be preserved in a clean, sanitary-and readily accessible manner.

. he ordinary ice box or refrigeratoris not suitable or preserving fish forstoring I the odor -of fish is or the like inasmuch, as taken on by-other foods placed in the box, the pre'sence of fish with other foods is ob- 'jectionable and the drainage from the fish T creates; a disagreeable and'unsanitary condition in and around the box.

With my invention fish and thelike may be effectively exposed to the "ice Without actually contacting with the ice and the fish packed or contained with the box that they may be readily removed without a pack of fish as is ;occasioned..with the ordlnary arrangement where the fish is packed with the ice.

My invention contemplates in one practical embodiment of the invention the provision of mice box which is open on upper and lower sides and provided on said sides With hinged closures. The box is mounted so as to bereversible and provided with adjustable vtransverse partitions which are removably mounted with the box and arranged to' contain between them, cracked ice. is'adapted to contain fish in whole form or large portions of fish and is provided with a drain, it being thenormally lower side of the box. The space on the otherside is the I side and is arranged to contain sliced fish meat or small fish .or sea foodparticles-such as halibut steaks, filet of sole, crab meat: and the'like. .Byreversing thebox the normally'lower side thereof is position and upon opening the closure ready access to the fish ;The space on one side of the partitions SerialNo. 581594. l

may be had. The arrangement of the box is such thatthe fish may be readily, removed without disturbing the ice and the packing of fish, the box may be readily packedand an effective cleaning and ventilating of the box is provided for. f Referringtto the drawings Figure l representsya longitudinal sectional view of an ice box constructed in accordance with i invention showing a part of the'framein elevation and the lid of closure broken away. Figure'2represents a sectional view taken on line 22 of Figure 1. l

Figure 3is a view similarto Figure? but showing-the box reversed. I

Figure4 is a fragmentary front elevation end elevation showing in detail the means for holdingthe box in reversed and normal 'rial and is open on its upper and lower sides Closures 7 and 8 in the natuf e ofjlids are hingedfas at 9 and'lO to upper and lower sides of the box and are adapted tolbe held in closed position by latching. mechanism generally designated 11; The latching mechanism for each" lever 12 pivoted ,intermediateits ends as at 13 to the body of the box and. having connectedltherewith .on opposite sides of: said pivotflinks 14 and 1 5. Theother 'endsof of the box and Figure 5 isja fragmentary",'

closure comprises a the links, are; pivoted to certain ends or i levers 16 which .are in turn pivoted inter- 'mediate their'ends as at 17 to the body of the box and at their outer; ends, arexfnotched as at: 18.-- Thenotches- 18 are adapted I to receive pins or projections' -llcarried on the lid. By moving. the lever 12 in one direction the leverslG will be moved so as to. cause the notches-18.130 receive pins'19 and opposite movementof the lever will withdraw the lever 16 from lockingengagement with saidpins.

Any suitable form of latch or. locking means place may be used, provided it may be readily operated and will effectively hold the lid in p c The box is provided with transverse ve'r i for -holding.-the lid'in a or othersea food such as sides of these receptaclesare position and the closure tically adjustable and removable partition members 20 and 21 which extend entirely across the box andareprovided on opposite sides with a plurality of spike-like pro- 'ections 22. Ice as shown at A is placed etween the partition members. The projections 22 will cause the ice to be evenly distributed and packed between the partitions. a series of perforations oropenings 23 which permit of drainage of the water from the ice where they other partition is imperforated. The closure 8' is provided with a drain opening 25 extends so that thedrainage'may be directed into a pan or receptacle (not shown) which may be placed beneath the box. A

drain pan 26 is mounted onthe inner side of the closure 8 and receives the inwardly off-set lower end 27 of the lining 28 of the box, so asto prevent leakage around the edges of the closure'8.

The outer side of the partition 20 has mounted thereon a plurality ofsmall receptacles 29 which are open on their upper sides and adapted to contain small pieces of fish v I halibut steaks, filet of sole, crab meat, etc. The upper provided with closures 30 preferably of the sliding type and which are arranged so that they may be readily opened or closed.

Withthe box in normal position. the closure 8 being lowermost and held in closed 7 in open position as shown in Figure 2, to-pack the box, the partitions 20 and 21 are removed and fish or large piecesof fishor sea food arepacked as desired in the 'pan 26. Atter the fish have been packed as shown in Figure 2 the partition 21 is lowered into place so as to rest upon the fish. The cracked ice, is then placed on the partition 21 and is evenly distributed and separated by the projections 22. The partition 20 is then mounted Within the box so as to rest upon the ice and a compartmentis thereby provided for the ice. Anysuitable quantity of ice may be used provided that it will not cause the upper partition to be so disposed so that the upper sides of the receptacle 29 will project above the upper side of the box.

The spikes 22 limit the movement of the partition, towards each other. Small particles of fish re placed within the receptacle 29 the closure 7 is closed and locked. Should it be desired to remove the small pieces of fish from the receptacles 29 it is only necessary tolift the'lid 7 and open the closures 30. If it is desired to remove a, large fish or large-fish particle, thebox is reversed so that the closure 8 is on shown in Figure 3 and upon opening the lid 8 ready to the fish may be had. I

The partition21 is provided with 24: from which a drain pipe 7 the upper side and the closure '2' is on the lower side as openings 32 and provided in the plate 5. a I

An expansion spring 34 is mounted on the plunger 31 and engages the standard 2 and a transverse pin 35 extending through the plunger, so that it will act to force the plunger into engagement avith the outer sur face of the plate 5. A lever 36 is pivoted as at 37 to the standard 2 and at a point intermediate of its ends is connected as at 38 with the outer end of the plunger. The openings 32 and 33 are so arranged that when the box is turned from one position to the other the plunger will automatically spring into engagement with one of the openings and movement. v pulling outwardly on the lever 36.

It willbe seen that the ice box ofmy invention will be highly desirable for use in restaurants, hotels, cafes and other places where storing and preserving of fish is necessary, particularly since the fish will be preserved in a clean and sanitary manner and the box will be held against 'may be readily and easily'removed without disturbing the arrangement of the ice and other fish in the box. One of the most essential features of the invent-ion is'the provision for cleanliness and sanitation in the preserving of fish, this being provided tor by storing the ice between removable partitions and storing the fish between the partitions and'the hinged lids or closures in an ice box which is reversible. By opening both lids after removal of partitions and the fish, the box may be easily and thoroughly cleaned and quickly ventilated.

. I claim:

The plunger is withdrawn by 3 1. A11 ice box comprising a receptacle open on opposite sides, closures for said open sides,'means on which the receptacle is reversibly mounted, partitions extending across the receptacle for containing therebetweena quantity of ice, said partitions providing fish storage spaces between "them and the closures.

2. An ice box comprising a receptacle open on upper and lower sides, closures for said open sides and means on which the receptacle is reversibly mounted, partitions removably mounted within and extending across the receptacle for containing therebetween. a quantity of ice, said partitions pro.- viding fish storage spaces between themand the closures, one of said partitions havin openings therein and a drain in one of sai closures. 7

3. An ice box comprising a receptacle open on its upper and lower sides, closures for said openings, partition-s removabjly mount.- ed within the box, arranged to contain ice between them and providing on opposite,

n ice box comprising a receptacle open on its upper and lower sides, closures for said openings, partitions removably mounted within the box, arranged to contain ice between them and providing on opposite sides thereof storage spaces, access to which spaces may be had by opening said closures, and projections on opposed faces of the partitions.

5. An ice box comprising a receptacle open said openings, partitions removably mounted within the box, between them and providing on opposite sides thereofstorage spaces, access to which spaces may be had by opening said closures, and receptaclescarried upon one of said partitions and closures for said receptacles.

6. An ice box comprising a receptacle havarranged to. contain ice 'ing at spaced points openings through which access to the nterior of the receptacle may be had, closures for said openings, means on which said receptacleis movable to bring either of the openings into accessible position and partitions within the receptacle providing between them. an ice receiving compartment and betweenthem and the 'closures, storage compartments.

7 An ice box comprising a receptacle having at spaced access to the interior be had, closures for said openings, means on which said receptacle is movable to bring eitherof the openings into accessible position, partitions within the receptacle providing between them an ice receiving compartment and between them and the closures, storage compartments, and means for locking the receptacle when it is moved into position to permit access to LAUREN M. BOWLUS.

points openings through which, I

of the receptacle may one of the openings therein. I i i 

